Directed by Sally Cookson

Costume Design

This adaptation of the book by Patrick Ness performed throughout August 2018 at the Old Vic Theatre.

It received rave reviews and has since been nominated for three Olivier awards.

Directed by Nick Bagnall

Set and Costume design

Nick and I took our inspiration from the idea that this play has a strong fairytale quality to it . I designed the show to look and feel like a pop up book or illustration . The costumes were all hand painted and the set used trompe l’oeil techniques to give it a toy theatre look.

Directed by Sally Cookson

Costume Design

 Originally devised at the Bristol Old Vic it was reworked for the Lyttleton Theatre and is now touring the UK .

Jane Eyre returns to the National Theatre September/October 2017

The costumes were a response to Victorian clothing, however I wanted them to have a fresh, modern feel . I stripped back a lot of the period detail and focussed on shape and silhouette. The performers are highly physical and so the costumes were created to allow for that freedom of movement .

Click on the link below to learn more about my process 

https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/file/9331/view

"Sally Cookson's bold, tumultuous reimagining of Charlotte Bronte's novel is a feast for the senses" *****The Observer

*****Daily Mail *****The Stage *****Mail on Sunday ****Time Out ****Evening Standard ****Daily Express ****Financial Times

Directed by Sally Cookson.

Set and Costume Design

The Rose Theatre is a huge space, so for this highly physical production I utilised the height and width available. It gave the production an operatic quality matched by Benji Bower's musical score . The light installation was used to reflect and enhance the emotional and physical state of the characters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkGdMgqkMUg

 Directed by Sally Cookson   

Set and Costume Design

La Strada is a devised adaptation of the Oscar winning Federico Fellini film.

The open set with a backdrop of hanging chains is used to suggest both the vast landscapes and the claustrophobia of the relationship between Gelsomina and Zampano.  All the different locations in the story were devised in the rehearsal room using movement, music, objects and light to create a fluid, dreamlike quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA4uLEf7ayw

 "charming, witty and inventive production with a modern edge" ****The Guardian

 "Katie Sykes has produced a sumptuous visual feast". ***** Stage Talk

*****Sardines Magazine.  

Directed by Sally Cookson . 

Costume Design

Originally devised at the Bristol Old Vic, this production was expanded and developed for the Olivier stage .

Set in an urban wasteland-I had lots of fun creating a really eclectic mix of costumes responding to the energy of the actors as well as their characters.

It has just been nominated for an Olivier 2017 Award  (Best Entertainment and Family)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEh7OWMaUnE

 *****Radio Times*****Mumsnet

****Guardian****Telegraph****Times

****TimeOut****Evening Standard

Directed by Nick Bagnall

Set and Costume Design

This outdoor/indoor touring production travelled all over Europe before returning to the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse as part of Emma Rice's first season. The tour finished at the Liverpool Everyman . Set in the 1960s it captured the excitement and thrill of being a teenager during that era . 

"fresh and impressive" ***** The Latest Brighton 

"energetic and very funny" **** The Stage

"A technicolour all singing all dancing spectacle " **** Oxford Times

Directed by Matt Cullum

Set and Costume Design

The Wind in the Willows is a beloved classic and Matt Cullum and I wanted to find a new, boisterous way of telling the story. We decided to subvert the idea of a rural idyll by setting it on a polluted, rubbish strewn riverbank. Fascinated by how animals make nests out of debris - this became a world of plastic bag grandeur through up cycling !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INcOl4UfeE8

  "The small cast creates a fully populated land , utilising Katie Sykes' excellent multi purpose set to full effect " Reviews Hub *****

"It allows imaginations to run wild ,a shopping trolley becomes a horse, a spade a fish, a bugle a pistol - future theatre makers are born in moments like this ! British Theatre *****

London Theatre **** 

Directed by Sally Cookson 

Set and Costume Design

Hetty, a foundling yearns to join the circus so I framed her story in a large circus structure where all the locations could be shown by using the circus equipment. As with many of the shows I design, it encompasses highly physical performances and multiple role changes all of which informed my costume choices for this hugely popular show . 

 It has had two West End runs and toured the UK and America . Nominated for an Olivier award 2015 (Best Entertainment and Family) it will be on again this Christmas 2017/18 at The Nuffield Theatre, Southhampton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtg2ybqOygI

"Katie Sykes’s cunningly simple set – a framework of ladders, ropes and streaming aerial silks – is the perfect playground for the six actors. As they clamber over it, swinging from ropes, rearranging silks, it becomes Hetty’s favourite oak tree, a creepy attic, a thrilling big top, and more." *****Telegraph 

"Sally Cookson’s astonishing production prompts our imagination through clever stagecraft."*****Daily Express

"Unbeatably fine." ***** Evening Standard

 *****Times

*****Independent

*****DailyMail 

Directed by Sally Cookson

Choreography by Wilkie Branson and Joel Daniel

This B-Boy inspired dance piece for younger children all takes place on Christmas Eve. In their excitement and impatience two brothers fight and play throughout the night. It is a sensitive as well as energetic show which explores their love for each other.

The set consists of a very strong bed and a dance floor covered in child like scribbles which reflect the energy and spirit of the piece. 

It is on at the Unicorn Theatre this Christmas and then tours to China in 2018 

It won an Offie Award 2017 for Best Show for 0 to 7 year olds.

 ****Guardian****Independent****TheStage 

Directed by Brendan Murray

Up Down Man is a production based around some of the real life experiences of Nathan Bessell, an actor/dancer who has Down's Syndrome. It explores some of the questions facing families around sexuality, independence and grief . I designed an abstract curving set which would allow Nathan (Matty) and the other performers as much freedom as possible to express themselves through movement . It also allowed for the dream like lighting used in the dance sequences depicting Matty's inner thoughts .

It was revived at the Tobacco Factory, Bristol in November 2017

Directed by Tom Morris

This funny and affectionate show explores the mythical obsession people have with England's World Cup victory. The second half is mostly an absurd re-enactment of the match so I created a sloping green "pitch", hung national flags around the auditorium and tried to make the whole event as un-precious and participatory as possible !

Directed by Sally Cookson

Cinderella is a devised production which ever since it was first performed in 2011 has been delighting audiences. It has been remounted numerous times and was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2012 and won an Offie Award in 2013.

 The design is deliberately quite Nordic, washed out and "homespun" in the first half and is subverted by the ridiculously bright pink ball dresses and more gaudy atmosphere of Act 2.

 "Small, but really rather beautifully formed, this is not just a great Christmas show, but a great night for all times and all ages."Guardian ****

"It’s not often that I want to see a show a third time, but then it’s not often that a show is as properly enchanting as Cinderella: A Fairytale."Times****

"Strapping blokes in sticky-out flamingo-pink frocks; toes amputated with a cleaver so that a foot can fit into the silver boot – folk-tale and farce are expertly fused." Independent ***** 

Directed by Helena Middleton and Jesse Jones 

Set and Costume design

Premiering in December 2019 , this brand new musical version of Pippi Longstocking will tour in 2020 .

Featuring music by Stu Barker and lighting by Sally Ferguson

Photos Manuel Harlan

Directed by Sally Cookson 

Set and Costume Design

This dynamic piece of new writing by Ross Willis incorporated creative captioning , visual vernacular and BSL to tell the story of 13 year old Sonny . A boy with a profound stammer navigating his way through early teens .

Lighting by Aideen Malone

Creative captions by Tom Newell

photos by Steve Tanner